God of Dreams and Destiny,
You plant visions in the hearts of the young.
You whisper purpose
long before the path makes sense.
You gave Joseph dreams
not small ones,
but sweeping ones.
He saw sheaves bowing.
He saw stars bending.
He saw a future filled with meaning,
but he couldn’t yet see the pain.
Lord, I confess
I love the dream,
but I fear the journey.
Joseph’s brothers hated him.
Not because of his sin,
but because of the favor he carried.
The coat on his back
became a target.
I know what it’s like to be misunderstood.
To carry something holy
and have it provoke jealousy.
To speak truth
and be met with rolled eyes or rolled stones.
Jacob favored him.
Joseph spoke too freely.
The fracture was already there
and it widened in a field.
They stripped him.
They threw him in a pit.
They debated his death
while he cried out from the bottom.
Lord, You heard him.
You see every dark place
where dreams seem lost.
You see the betrayal
that feels too close, too cruel.
I confess
some of my deepest wounds
have come from those I love.
From family.
From the ones who should have protected me.
They sold him for silver.
To strangers.
To Egypt.
To the unknown.
But You went with him.
Joseph had no idea
that the pit was the first step toward the palace.
That slavery was the path to sovereignty.
That what others meant for evil,
You would mean for good.
God, when I’m in the pit
help me trust Your purpose.
When I’m stripped of what I thought made me special,
remind me that Your hand is still on me.
When others betray me,
let me not grow bitter,
but believe that You still write my story.
Jacob mourned with torn clothes.
The father believed the son was dead.
But You knew
You were already working redemption.
Even when no one else sees hope,
You see harvest.
So I bring You my dreams.
The ones that excite me.
The ones that scare me.
The ones that seem buried in betrayal.
Breathe on them again.
And let me walk faithfully
even when the path descends
before it ever rises.
You are the God
who speaks through dreams,
and walks through pits,
and writes glory into the pages of grief.
In the name of Jesus,
betrayed for silver,
yet risen to reign
Amen.